Delhi cops involved in mining racket

A Delhi Police Vigilance Department sting operation has exposed the connivance of officers belonging to at least four city police stations in a multi-crore illegal mining racket.
Following the revelation, Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal has ordered the Crime Branch to register cases

A Delhi Police Vigilance Department sting operation has exposed the connivance of officers belonging to at least four city police stations in a multi-crore illegal mining racket.

Following the revelation, Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal has ordered the Crime Branch to register cases against them and the erring constables and station house officers (SHOs) are now the subject of departmental and vigilance inquiries.

The sting reveals that the policemen - from Narela, Bawana, Mehrauli and Shahbad Dairy Police stations - may have been each earning in the range of Rs 30-40 lakh a month along with civic officials and elected officials from certain areas of the Capital.

The cumulative earnings of the policemen and the civic authorities ran into crores every month, source said.

Mail Today has accessed a copy of the sting operation's transcript as well as the file that gives details of the soil mafia's operations across Delhi. Senior officers have briefed Dadwal about the illegal soil excavation mafia and the commissioner has asked top area police officers of the ranks of deputy commissioner, additional deputy commissioner and the assistant commissioner to explain "why such activities in the area did not come to your notice".

Vigilance department sources said they were alerted against the builder lobby's large-scale bribing of key officials in exchange for illegal mining permissions, and this prompted them to investigate matters.

Here is how the illegal mining operation worked. Real estate developers need large amounts of loose soil and sand at their construction sites. To facilitate easy access and movement of these two raw materials, builders were provided with "free access" to land belonging to various civic agencies. Sources said most of the soil was excavated at night, with police constables keeping vigil along with musclemen hired by the builder or the contractor.

The excavation was being carried out on land belonging to top civic agencies such as the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Delhi State Industrial And Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) and gram sabhas.

Most of the tractors and earthmoving machines (popularly called JCB machines after the company that makes them) are owned by contractors and builders in the respective areas.

The JCB machine operators are free to dig as much of government land in the afternoons.

Later, tractors and loader trucks are sent to the spot around 9 pm every night. Contractors charge anything between Rs 3,600 and Rs 6,000 per truck of soil, and also ensure that the vehicles reach the stipulated construction site.

A local contractor told the decoy customer in the sting: "Night time charges are low as there are fewer cops to bribe. However, if you want deliveries in the morning, you may have to bribe other local and traffic policemen as well." A leading contractor involved in the soil excavation mafia told the decoy customers that "the area police in-charge is on his rolls and has to be paid Rs 20,000 per night, irrespective of whether a single truck of soil goes out from the lands or not". A constable receives Rs 10,000 for his vigil at the spot. He also revealed that real estate business was brisk once again, and that "anywhere between 40 and 50 trucks were being loaded and sent across the city each night". "It was a win-win situation," a senior crime branch officer said.

"Policemen and civic officers would earn lakhs every day, while contractors would evade taxes worth crores they would have had to pay had they chosen to take the official route." Amulya Patnaik, joint commissioner, crime branch, confirmed that cases against the policemen have been registered and that "investigations are being taken up". Other officers, however, said the investigation was kept under wraps to allow as much evidence to be gathered against the policemen before the matter was made public and proceedings initiated against them.

Crime branch sources pointed out that N. Dilip Kumar, joint commissioner, vigilance department, was the moving force behind the investigation. Kumar had earlier gained repute after directing a series of sting operations against corrupt bureaucrats when he was posted as the head of the anti-corruption bureau.

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